By Stephanie Daniels
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says that Nigeria’s crude losses have dropped after about 16 years of sabotage, recording 9,600 barrels per day (bpd).
Representing the one year to July according to Rigzone, the figure is the lowest daily average since 2009, according to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
According to the Commission, “So far in 2025, only 2.04 million barrels have been lost, which is a reduction of 35.56 million barrels compared to the 37.6 million barrels lost in 2021, underscoring the scale of progress made in just four years”.
“Crude oil losses in 2021 were the highest recorded in nearly 23 years, making it the peak year between 2002 and July 2025”.
The Commission disclosed that in 2022, crude losses dropped to 20.9 million barrels or 57,200 bpd, while the daily average loss was recorded to have fallen 11,900 bpd in 2023 and about 11,300 bpd in 2024.
“Remarkably, in just the first seven months of 2025, losses were cut by 50.2 percent, with only 2.04 million barrels lost over the period”, the Commission said.
It added: “Since the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in 2021, Nigeria has recorded steady progress in reducing crude oil losses”.
“The Commission has adopted” it said, “a balanced mix of kinetic and non-kinetic strategies in tackling oil losses. On the kinetic front, the commission has continued to collaborate closely with security agencies, operators and communities.
“On the non-kinetic front, NUPRC has implemented strategic regulatory measures to close systemic loopholes. One key initiative is the metering audit across upstream facilities to ensure accurate measurement of production and exports”. It went ahead to disclose that it has approved 37 new crude evacuation routes to counter oil theft.
On monthly production growth, the Commission said that in July 2025, Nigeria’s liquids production grew 9.9 percent, far outstripping the record in July 2024. Maintaining that the July 2025 output averaged 1.71 million bpd (MMbpd), comprising about 1.51 MMbpd of oil and around 205,000 bpd of condensate. “Month after month, July 2025 production rose 0.89 percent”.
“On the monthly performance of Nigeria’s crude oil terminals, Forcados recorded the highest output in July 2025 with 9.04 million barrels, representing a 2.1 percent increase from 8.85 million barrels in June”, NUPRC was quoted to have said August 25.
In reeling out achievements over the time, NUPRC said Nigeria secured over $400 million in decommissioning liabilities in 2024, this was while applying “stricter rules in its recent asset transfers”.
Across the Nigerian upstream sector last year, more than $400 million in “pre-sale decommissioning and abandonment liabilities have been secured through Letters of Credit and escrow accounts”, NUPRC’s Gbenga Komolafe was quoted to have said in an NUPRC press release of September 9, 2025.
Komolafe said: “Since April 2023, we have approved 94 decommissioning and abandonment plans, in strict alignment with the PIA”.
“These approvals represent total liabilities of $4.424 billion, arising from all field development plans submitted within this period, and will be remitted progressively over the production life of the respective fields into designated escrow accounts”.
Adding he said: “In addition to divestments, the Commission has been working together with operators, particularly members of OPTS [Oil Producers Trade Section], on life extension projects, ranging from facility integrity audits to subsea upgrades and enhanced reservoir management measures that sustain safe production, delay decommissioning, reduce environmental risks and secure resilience across our mature fields”.